Things Will Never Be The Same Again
by She Loves Shoes
Summary: SusanDoug. Doug and Susan spend some quiet time together, but ER wouldn't be ER if they wouldn't get walked in on. CHAPTER 15 added. Please R&R [on hiatus]
1. TEARS

** THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters. If I did, I'd be in my penthouse right now, writing an episode which brings Doug back ;)

The rating is for some sexual content.

**A/N:** This is basically a Susan / Mark / Doug / Carol story.

I might be the only person in the world who wanted to see Doug and Susan together, but I'm famed for liking uncommon pairings anyway. I'm not quite sure if this story will actually turn into a Doug/Susan romance, but what I do know is that neither Doug and Carol nor Mark and Susan will be together in this fic.

Please give it a try... it's something new and something rather unique. To my best knowledge, I'm the first person to publish a Doug/Susan story on here. Please read and review. Things Will Never Be The Same Again is my first fanfic ever and I would really like to know what you think of it. I'm not a native speaker, so please excuse it if there are any grammatical errors ;)

The story is set in Season 2. It's not really AU, but I've changed a few "facts" from the series:  
For instance, Mark is still married to Jennifer. He moved to Milwaukee to live with her and Rachel. Although Mark is still in touch with his friends in Chicago, he couldn't make it to Susan's birthday party. Susan's celebrating her 30th birthday but she's not feeling so well...

Read and find out what happens when Doug tries to comfort her...

* * *

**TEARS**

When Susan Lewis exited the elevator on the roof, she was greeted by a cool January breeze. Slightly shivering, she wrapped her thin lab coat around her body and walked over to her favorite spot on the roof, from where you had a beautiful view over the illuminated city of Chicago.

She looked up to brightly shining stars, recalling the day her niece Susie was born. As Susan remembered how she showed Susie the stars that night, her eyes filled with tears.

Although it was her 30th birthday today, but she was everything but happy that night. She had just left from her own birthday party down in the lounge because she didn't feel like partying anymore. Big, salty tears trickled down her cheeks, but she didn't make the effort to wipe them away. She was going through a rough time ever since her sister Chloe got the custody for Susie and moved away with her. Susan missed that little girl more than she ever imagined she would.

Loosing Susie really broke Susan's heart, as she had been like a daughter to her. During the last few months, Susan had dedicated her entire life to Susie. She wanted to adopt her and legally become her mother. But then, Chloe had crossed all of Susan's plans when she'd come to the decision that she wanted her daughter back. Two weeks ago, Chloe, her husband Joe and little Susie had moved away, leaving Susan alone and devastated. In the meantime, Susan had managed to pack up all the things that reminded her of the baby. She had stored them in the attic, but she still hadn't gotten over the loss yet.

Susan was still engaged in her crying and sobbing that she didn't even notice that the elevator doors had opened again. Someone had approached and was now watching her. She didn't realize that she wasn't alone anymore until that someone gently lay his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey Birthday Girl, what's wrong?" She heard a familiar voice ask.

Susan wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and looked up. Even though she still had a blurred vision from crying, she could recognize Doug. She glared at him and didn't know what to say. Although she had known him for years, Susan couldn't think of a time when she'd cried in front of him. She was not much of a crier, at least not in public. All of a sudden, she felt odd and stupid. "I'm OK." "Just go back inside," Susan said quietly without looking at Doug.

Doug hesitated for some seconds, then he put his arm around her."No, I'll stay with you."

"It's OK, Doug. I'm fine. You don't need to stay with me," Susan said, but her words didn't impress him at all.

"Do you really think I could go back downstairs and have fun with the others, now that I've seen you like this? I won't go anywhere unless you tell me what's wrong." Doug pulled her a little closer, "so, why did you leave the party?" He wanted to know.

Susan glanced shyly at him. She couldn't remember the last time she had been so embarrassed. On the one hand, she didn't want to tell anyone what was on her mind right now, but on the other hand she was glad that someone seemed to care about her. But she couldn't talk to Doug out of all people, or could she?

"I'm fine," she insisted in a sad and shaky voice.

"What are you doing out here then? It's your birthday today, Susan, you should be happy."

Susan sighed. He was right. She wouldn't spend one of her most monumental birthdays on her own at the roof of County General Hospital if everything was alright. She eyed up the dark-haired pediatrician. He was a big gossiper and the one person who spread all the rumors that were circulating at County. In other words, he was probably the last person she'd give anything in secret trust.

However, Susan did trust him tonight. Somehow she knew that he wouldn't talk to anybody about the whole incident, and besides, she really needed to get this off of her chest.

"It's just that I'm 30 now...and I have nothing. Nothing but my work," Susan said, still sobbing. "That's not the life I wanted to live." "Remember when Kerry offered me the Chief Resident position? I turned her down, 'cause I always thought there should be more to life than just work," Susan tried to explain.

Doug didn't reply, he just nodded understandingly and let her continue with her story.

"Things would be different if I'd gotten the custody for Susie..." "But now she's with Chloe... " "I miss her so much! But you know, it's not only about Susie. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be married and have kids by the time I would turn thirty..." "Now look at me: 30. No kids. No husband. I don't even have a boyfriend." Susan finished up.

Doug reached out for Susan's hand and stroke her. "That's OK, Susan. Things don't usually go as planned. But you should definitely stop pressuring yourself. You're 30, not yet a mother and currently single – so what?" "You're a beautiful woman. You're nice and kind...Any man would be lucky to have you." "You have years and years to find the one, get married and have kids..."

"Come on, be serious, Doug. I don't have years anymore. I had years when I was twenty. But not anymore. Thirty-somethings don't go well on the wedding market," she said in a sarcastic tone.

"Aww, that's not true."

"It is, believe me Doug, it is." "Just look at yourself, or do you actually date women your age?"

"Well," he began, but cut himself off again, as he didn't know quite what to say. After all, Susan was right. The med-student he'd shared his bed with for the past few days had been barely over 21, and so were most of the other girls he dated.

"See? I was right," Susan pointed out.

"Yes, but then again, I'd never considering marrying one of those girls."

Susan chuckled a little. "I know." "I can't really imagine you being married anyway."

"Me either," Doug admitted. "At least not anytime soon," he said, giving her his typical Doug smile. Susan couldn't help laughing. Although Doug had tried to be as serious as possible, he had still managed to cheer her up and Susan was really glad that he hadn't left when she'd told him to go.

As their laughter died down, Susan finally felt the coldness that crept into her body. Doug, too, was freezing. "Let's go back inside, " he suggested, but Susan shook her head.

"Go ahead, but I'm not going back to the party."

"But you don't turn thirty everyday, Susie, you should definitely celebrate your birthday"

"Wine at home will do for me, too." Susan chuckled.

"Probably. Should I take you home? I came by car today," Doug offered.

"If you don't mind..."

"Not at all. Come on, let's go!" Doug grabbed Susan's hand and the two of them descended the elevator.

* * *

During the car ride, Doug and Susan didn't talk as they were both lost in their thoughts, thinking about their lives. When Doug's car pulled up in front of Susan's apartment, she didn't feel like climbing out of the car. Upstairs in her apartment, where she would be on her own again, all her fears and sorrow would come back. She'd think about Susie and all the things that had gone wrong in her life. 

Susan looked at Doug, wondering if she should ask him in. He smiled, but he didn't say anything, so they just sat there in silence for some minutes.

"Want to come upstairs with me and join me for a couple of drinks?" Susan finally suggested.

"Sure," he said...

**...TBC...**

**

* * *

Please review!  
**Thanks.  
Sunny


	2. PIZZA AND TEQUILA

** THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters. If I did, I'd be in my penthouse right now, writing an episode which brings Doug back ;)...I rated it PG-13, just in case...

**What happened so far : **Susan left from her own birthday party. Doug found her crying on the roof and wanted to take her home

**

* * *

PIZZA AND TEQUILA**

"Wow... I haven't been here in a long time..."Doug said as he looked around in Susan's apartment. „Yeah, last time must have been my Christmas party"

"I guess so."

They walked over to the living room and sat down on the couch. „Beer? Wine? Tequila?" Susan asked.

"Tequila would be great."

"Sure. I'll be back in a minute" Susan stood up and headed for the kitchen while Doug took a look around the living room. His eyes scanned some framed pictures of Chloe and Susie that were placed on the little table beside the couch.

When Susan came back with a bottle of tequila and two glasses in her hand, Doug was still looking at a picture of Susie. "You would have been a great Mom for her."

"Maybe." Susan poured the tequila into the glasses and handed one of them to Doug. He raised his glass and smiled at Susan. "Happy Birthday!"

Susan wondered why out of all the people she knew, Doug was the one who she spent her 30th birthday with. They had been good friends all along, but she and Doug had never been that close before. Susan wished her best friends Carol or Mark would be by her side right now, but Mark was far away in Milwaukee with his family. He had planned to come to Chicago for Susan's birthday, but since a few of doctors at the hospital he was now working at had called in sick, he had to step in for them and couldn't make it to Susan's party. And Carol who was on the graveyard shift this night was probably at home sleeping until she had to go back to work in a few hours.

However, Susan couldn't say that she didn't enjoy Doug's company. In fact, she was more than glad that she'd brought him over. He really cheered her up and made her feel better.

"I'm starving....how about some pizza?"Susan asked. She hadn't eaten anything since lunch, and was now ravenously hungry.

"Great idea. I didn't have anything for dinner today. How about sharing one of those family-size ones?"

"Okay. What kind of pizza do you want?"Susan reached for the phone and dialed the number of her favorite pizza service.

"Oh, I don't care. Whatever you like is fine with me, too."

Susan smiled and ordered a large pizza. By the time they delivery service arrived, Susan and Doug both have had a couple of tequilas each and were not so sober anymore. "Pizza!" Doug exclaimed when Susan came back with the pizza. She sat down on the couch again, put the pizza box between herself and Doug and grabbed a slice of pizza. It didn't take them long to polish off the whole thing.

Some tequilas later, they were both sitting cross-legged on the couch, laughing and joking all the time.

"I feel a lot better now,"Susan said with a smile on her face. "Laughter is the best medicine after all," she spoke up.

Doug laughed, but then he shook his head. "No. Tequila is even better," he said, pouring some more alcohol into their glasses.

They quickly emptied their glasses and refilled them again. By now, both of them had had way to much alcohol and were no longer fully aware of their actions...They laughed about everything and nothing at the same time and were having a blast.  
"You know what? I'm actually having a good time...Doug... I'm so glad you didn't leave me all alone... you saved my birthday" Susan smiled and lay her head down on Doug's shoulder.

"Well, I'm glad I stayed with you... I haven't had so much fun in a long time," he replied and gently touched her cheek.

For some minutes they sat there, side by side, looking at each other, without saying a word. Doug slowly leaned forward, moving his face towards her face. Susan instinctively closed her eyes when their lips met in a short and soft kiss. Realizing what just happened, Susan backed away from him and stared at him in wonder. She glanced into his warm, deep brown eyes without saying a word. Eventually, she brought her arms around him, pulled him closer and kissed him back. Before long, Susan found herself exchanging passionate kisses with her best friend's ex. But she couldn't think about Carol _right now_, as his touches and kisses made her forget about everything else. Susan let her fingers run down his back while Doug began to undone the buttons of her blouse... Without thinking about what she was doing to Carol and Mark, Susan discarded her clothes and let him love her...

**....TBC....**


	3. THE MORNING AFTER

**THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN**

**Disclaimer : ** I don't own any of the characters. If I did, I'd be in my penthouse right now, writing an episode which brings Doug back ;)...I rated it PG-13, just in case...

**What happened so far : **Susan left from her own birthday party. Doug found her crying on the roof and wanted to take her home. She asks him in, they get drunk and end up sleeping together

* * *

**THE MORNING AFTER**

When the sun shone brightly through the windows and lit the room, Susan finally woke up. She was terribly hung over from the last night and feeling like shit. At first, she couldn't remember a single thing that happened the previous night, but when she turned her head, she saw Doug lying next to her.

Her jaw dropped. "Oh my god..." She mouthed and jumped up from the couch. When covering her private parts with a blanket, she knocked over an empty bottle of tequila with fell on the floor and smashed into smithereens. She looked at the broken bottle, then she looked at Doug. And suddenly, she remembered.... her blurred memories from last night slowly became clearer...she remembered spending the evening with Doug on the roof, asking him in for some drinks and everything that happened afterwards. Woken up by the sound of breaking glass, Doug opened his eyes and saw Susan. He was just as surprised and shocked.

For a few minutes, neither of them spoke because they were still shocked.

For so many years, they had been nothing but good friends... but apparently, it took only a couple of drinks to change everything forever. They both knew that things would never be the same again, now that they had spend the night together. Even though neither of them technically was in a relationship, they were both fully aware of the fact that it had been terribly wrong. They had just done the worst thing they could have done to Carol...

Doug and Carol had broken up a long time ago, but after Carol's wedding with Tag had been cancelled off, everybody thought that Carol and Doug would end up in each other's arms again soon, since there was still so much chemistry and tension between them.

Even though Doug and Carol never reunited, Carol was jealous all along when Doug dated other woman. He didn't like it when she was seeing other men, too. Being still unsure about his own feelings for Carol, Doug was conscious of the fact that he had still cheated on her when he'd slept with Susan. To make things worse, Susan wasn't just any woman. She wasn't like one of these nurses or med-students Doug didn't even know by name....she was Carol's best friend.

But Doug had not only cheated on Carol, he had also betrayed his best friend, Mark.

Although Mark was more or less happily married to Jennifer, there had always been some chemistry between Mark and Susan for as long as Doug could remember. Needless to say that Mark would still be angry and disappointed if he found out about it.

Susan wasn't feeling any better since she had cheated on her two best friends as well.

Susan got to know Carol when she began her residency at County, and they had soon become best friends. And ever after Carol's suicide attempt, the bond between the two woman became stronger and they grew even closer. When Tag cancelled his wedding with Carol, Susan had been there for Carol and helped her best friend through a rough time, just like she had done earlier when Doug and Carol had broken up. She knew that Doug was still on Carol's mind. Now that she had slept with Doug, who was not only Carol's ex, but also the man Carol was still in love with, she had done the worst thing she could have done to her best friend.

And then there was also Mark. Her best friend Mark, who had always been a very special someone for her. She had met him at her very first day at County and they had been really good friends ever since. Her friendship with Mark was a very deep and very special one, and even though Mark had moved to Milwaukee to be with his family, they had kept in touch and were still really close. She knew that Mark would be upset if he found out about it.

Susan had never felt so miserable in a long time. And it wasn't only because of the amount of Tequila she'd consumed the evening before, but because she knew what she had done to two of the most important people in her life. Susan didn't want even want to imagine Mark's reaction, and let alone Carol's.

* * *

**...TBC...**

More to come soon :) ... Please review


	4. LATE FOR WORK

**THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN**  
**  
Disclaimer : ** I don't own any of the characters. If I did, I'd be in my penthouse right now, writing an episode which brings Doug back ;)...I rated it PG-13, just in case... 

**What happened so far : **Susan left from her own birthday party. Doug found her crying on the roof and wanted to take her home. She asks him in, they get drunk and end up sleeping together. When waking up together, they realize what they've done to Mark and Carol

* * *

**LATE FOR WORK**

Meanwhile at County. Dr. Kerry Weaver was standing at the admit desk, having a furious expression on her face. "Where the hell is Dr. Ross? I have 6 patients lined up for him," she said angrily.

"I'm afraid, but he isn't in yet," Randi replied without looking up from the magazine she was currently reading.

Kerry pulled the magazine away from her. "I suppose you don't get paid for reading here," Kerry scolded.

"I was only reading _Chicago Medicine_, " the dark-haired admit clerk protested.

"Whatever. Can you get Dr. Lewis please. She will have to cover for Doug"

Jerry approached. "Sorry Dr. Weaver but Susan isn't in yet either."

"What a funny coincidence." Randi chuckled.

Kerry raised her eyebrows. "Why is everybody late for work today? Call them in. I need them. NOW! " she hissed and left for her office.

Back in Susan's apartment, Doug and Susan just stood there, looking at each other, both still in shock, when the phone rang. Susan grabbed the receiver and answered it. "Hello," she said.

"Dr. Lewis? Hi, it's Randi. Weaver asked me to call you...she's furious..."

Susan glanced at her watch. It was almost 11am and she was supposed to be working since 10 am. "Oh my god...I...I... slept in... I'll be over in half an hour, " Susan promised before she hung up. "Weaver's pissed. I should have been at County an hour ago, " Susan said as she put the phone down.

"Ohh. Me, too. She'll kill us."

They both grabbed their clothes and put them on as quickly as possible without exchanging any words. When they got to the hospital, they still hadn't spoken to each other. "You go in first, " Doug said. Susan nodded and headed towards the entrance.

Kerry was already waiting for her at the admit desk, looking as if she was about to eat her alive.

"I'm sorry Kerry, but it got really late last night...I slept in...I'm sorry...," she muttered.

Kerry nodded angrily. "Make sure that it won't happen again. And now please go to work. " She handed Susan a pile of charts.

"I'll take care of them right away...but first I have to get myself some Aspirin, my headache is killing me, " Susan said under her breath and walked down the corridor.

In the meantime Doug had come in, too. After Kerry reproved him, he got himself some Ibuprofen and got to work.

"I was wondering why they both said that it had got late last night, considering that Dr. Lewis left the party early and so did Dr. Ross, " Jerry whispered to Randi. 

"And they were both late for work...." "But they wouldn't....or would they?"

Later that day, Susan took care of a little girl with a broken wrist. The events of the last night were still distracting her and she could barely concentrate on her work. She was only glad that Carol had the day off, because she had no idea how she would tell her or if she should tell her at all. If she told her, she would definitely loose risking her best friend, but keeping it as a secret wouldn't be any better. Either way, Susan had to talk to Doug about it first. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even hear Clara, the little girl who's arm she had just fixed.

"How long will I have to wear that cast?" Clara asked again, this time louder.

"Pardon? Sorry sweetie I wasn't listening...what did you just say?" Susan looked up.

"I asked you how long I will have to wear that thing," Clara said, pointing to her cast.

"It's quite a complicated fracture. It could take up to six weeks, but we don't really know yet...Just come back here in 3 weeks for x-rays and I will be able to tell you."

Suddenly the door flung open and Haleh came in.

"Dr. Lewis, a trauma just came in and they could probably use some help, " Haleh said as she walked over to Susan.

"I'll be right there. Can you take of Clara here?"

"Sure." Haleh introduced herself to Clara while Susan washed her hands.

"Trauma 1," Haleh said before Susan left the room.

Susan quickly ran over to the trauma room and opened its doors. "Oh great," she said under her breath when she saw Doug. Among him were a couple of nurses and Peter Benton.

"What do you have?"

"Jason Baker, 15, car accident. Has internal bleeding and most likely a liver rupture. Critical condition but stable. We're about to take him to the OR," Peter filled her in.

"You don't need me here anymore, do you?" Susan asked.

Peter shook his head. "No. But thanks for coming." Then he turned to the nurses. "Let's go upstairs. They're already waiting for us," Peter said and they took Jason up to the OR, leaving Doug and Susan alone in the room.

"I..I...think we need to talk..." Susan muttered, still avoiding eye contact to Doug.

Doug nodded. "This should never...," he began when his beeper went off. "Uhh, this is important. Probably another trauma." Doug headed for the door.

"But this is important, too."

Before he left for the admit desk, Doug finally looked at Susan and said "I know. We'll talk later."

"Yeah. Later."

* * *

**....TBC....**

Chapter 5 will be posted within the next days. Please keep on reviewing it... I really live for reviews....

I know that a lot of people could never imagine Doug and Susan together... well, I can. In my mind, Mr. and Mrs. Beautiful would be perfect together. Let's see if I'm going to let this story end up Dousan or not ;)


	5. SECRETS AND LIES

**THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN **

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters. If I did, I'd be in my penthouse right now, writing an episode which brings Doug back ;)...I rated it PG-13, just in case...

**What happened so far :** Susan left from her own birthday party. Doug found her crying on the roof and wanted to take her home. She asks him in, they get drunk and end up sleeping together. When waking up together, they realize what they've done to Mark and Carol. They were both late for work, and Randi and Jerry already suspect something.

* * *

**SECRETS AND LIES**

Susan walked out of the trauma room and checked the board, but since there wasn't any work for her to do, she decided to go out and take a break. A breath of fresh air was just what she needed right now. She sat down on a bench in the ambulance bay and watched people going and coming from the ER.

"There you are," she heard a familiar voice calling from behind. She turned around and saw Carter standing there, smiling at her.

"Hey Carter," Susan said.

"I've been looking everywhere for you..." Carter walked over to Susan. "Happy belated birthday! I'm sorry but I couldn't make it to the party last night...my grandma wasn't feeling well and I had to stay with her," he explained.

"Oh, no problem. And thanks." Susan managed to smile. "I hope your grandma is ok?"

"Yeah. She's fine. It was just migraine. Anyway, how was the party?"

_How would I know? I wasn't at the party myself....Doug and me..., _Susan thought. She looked at Carter. She hated to lie, but this time she didn't really have a choice.

"It was great....Really great..."

They talked some more until Doug came out.

"Susan? Do you have a minute? I've got some questions about the boy you treated this morning," Doug lied. Susan got the message between the lines and nodded in Doug's direction. She stood up and looked at Carter. "Time for me to go back to work....Well, see you later." She slowly moved towards the entrance and followed Doug back in. She wasn't exactly looking forward to that conversation but they definitely had to talk about it. Doug led her into the on-call room and closed the door behind them.

"How's your hangover doing?" Susan asked as she sat down on the bed.

"OK. I'm on Ibuprofen. How about yours?"

"Aspirin."

But of course, they hadn't met to talk about their hangovers, so Susan brought the original subject back. "Look Doug...I'm not the kind of person who usually does things like that....but I was so drunk last night...."

"This should never have happened...we shouldn't have lost control... No offence, but I would never have slept with you if I had been sober...don't get me wrong...you're a beautiful woman...but...you're Carol's best friend." He sighed.

"I know what you mean. I would never have done this either if it weren't for the alcohol.... I would never do this to Carol...and to Mark... But last night...Tequila black-out.... I wish I hadn't lost control..."

"Me, too... I'm sorry... it's all my fault...but please keep in mind that I didn't sleep with you because I felt sorry for you or anything... I didn't want to make use of your situation...."

"I know, Doug...but it's not your fault...it's yours as well as mine...it takes two to tango... I knew it was wrong all along...but I don't know...something kept pushing Carol and Mark out of my head....and in that situation, it just felt right...but still...we should never have done this."

"Let's blame it on the tequila..."

For a few minutes, neither of them said a word. Susan pulled her legs close to her body and hugged her knees. She let her eyes wander across the room until they met Doug's eyes.

"Now what?"

Doug shrugged as he didn't really knew what to answer.

"I have never felt so miserable before...and it's not because of hangover... it's because I've betrayed my best friends... Carol and I had been best friends all along...and Mark...well...he's always been a very special person for me"

Doug nodded understandingly. "Mark and Carol would never understand it....I don't even understand it myself...."

"Me either. Do you think we should tell them?"

"I don't know... It didn't mean anything to us....but still... things will never be the same again once they know about it."

"Things will never be the same again anyway.....even though it was just a stupid thing two drunken people did.... it would still mean something to Carol...Mark would also be upset....but then again, we won't be on the safe side either if we keep this to ourselves....what if they would find out from someone else? After all, this is a hospital and you know as well as I know that you can't really have any secrets here.... what if someone has seen us leaving together and starts telling rumors about us...? It would be even worse if Carol found out from somebody else I guess... Mark probably wouldn't find out about it now that he lives in Milwaukee..."

"Whatever we will do....it'll be wrong..." Doug sighed. "I wish this had never happened....but we can't wash our hands clean of this anymore...it's to late," he added and made an unhappy face.

"Yeah...I wish we could simply forget about it...but you're right... it's too late...I regret this more than anything. I would make it undone if only I could," Susan said ruefully.

Doug nodded understandingly. He took Susan's hand and looked into her big green eyes that expressed nothing but remorse. "We should tell them, Susan... After all, they're our best friends...I wouldn't be able to look them in the eyes anymore if we'd keep this as a secret..."

Susan nodded in agreement. The thought of confessing her one-night-stand with Doug made her sick, but she knew that Doug was right. Her night with Doug was nothing that could be under rug swept easily, they simply had to tell Carol and Mark about it. Chances were that they would understand. But most likely, they wouldn't. Even though that night didn't mean anything to Doug and Susan, it would still hurt Carol, and probably even Mark.

"We've done enough damage. Lying to them would make things only worse..."

"Do you want me to tell Carol about it?"

"Would you?"

Susan nodded. "I'll try to get a hold of her when my shift's over tonight."

"What about Mark? Isn't he coming this weekend?"

"I don't think so. He left a voicemail on my cell, saying that he couldn't make it to my birthday party because he had to work. And since Jenn's on a business trip, he'll have to stay with Rachel.... I can tell him next time he's in Chicago," Susan suggested. She got up from the bed and walked towards the door. Having her hand already placed on the doorknob, she turned around again and looked at Doug "There's one more thing," she said.

"Yeah?"

"What about us?"

"What about us?"Doug stalled. He didn't really understand what Susan expected from him.

"Well, we agreed on it didn't mean anything and it will never happen again, right?"

"Right. Just one night. No strings attached."

"But will we still be friends?"

"I guess. Things won't be quite as they used to be...but everything will be fine after some time has passed...," Doug replied and hugged her.

"I hope so," she whispered into his ears.

"Good luck with Carol..." he whispered back.

"I'll need it.... but you will have to talk to her about this, too. " Susan said as she made her way to the doctor's lounge.

* * *

**...TBC....**

more to come soon :)

Thanks for the reviews. I really appreciate this. And I'm pleasantly surprised that not everybody is against this story just because it's an odd-couple thing ;) I know that there are many many people out there who are Mark/Susan and Doug/Carol fans who could never imagine this. LOL, I don't blame you.

And for the Mark and Carol fans : They will definitely appear in the next chapters!

Anyway, there are tons and tons and tons of D/C & M/S stories out here...and well... I'm trying something new :)


	6. SURPRISE

**THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters. If I did, I'd be in my penthouse right now, writing an episode which brings Doug back ;)...I rated it PG-13, just in case...

**What happened so far :** Susan left from her own birthday party. Doug found her crying on the roof and wanted to take her home. She asks him in, they get drunk and end up sleeping together. When waking up together, they realize what they've done to Mark and Carol. They were both late for work, and Randi and Jerry already suspect something. Susan and Doug talked about their ‚mistake' and agree on telling Carol and Mark about it.

* * *

**SURPRISE**

Susan walked slowly down the corridor. Her mind, however, was racing. In about an hour, her shift would be over and she was supposed to go over to Carol's and tell her about that incident with Doug. She tried to think of different ways how to start that conversation, but she didn't come up with anything appropriate. _This is so difficult... I wish I wouldn't have to deal with it... I wish I wouldn't have slept with him....How could I do this to Carol? I'm a terrible best friend,_ Susan thought while she bought herself her bottle of Evian from the drinks machine. She pressed the ice cold bottle against her forehead. Her head hurt like hell and she felt as if had been overrun by a truck. The Aspirin she'd taken earlier this day had already either already eased or been too low-dosed to be effective against this major headache Susan was suffering from.

Susan had been standing there with her Evian clutched to her forehead for less then a minute when Wendy approached with some charts in her hands. "You ok?" she asked Susan.

"Yeah. Just a bad headache. I'm alright," Susan lied and forced herself to smile. Right now, she was anything but alright. She had a guilty conscience, was ashamed of what she'd one to her best friends, and her head felt as if it was going to explode.

"Weaver gave me those for you," Wendy said and handed Susan the charts she'd brought with her. "A wrist fracture, a deep 3-inch lac, and a dog bite."

Susan sighed. "I'll take care of them. I'll be right back." She handed the charts back to Wendy and hurried to the doctor's lounge.

When Susan opened the door she couldn't believe her own eyes. In fact, she was so surprised...or even shocked that she almost dropped the bottle of water which she was still holding in her hands.

"Hey Susan!" Mark greeted her happily.

When she heard him call her name, she knew that it wasn't a dream (which she hoped) or a leftover from her alcohol consumption the last (which she believed), but reality. Out of all the people Susan knew, Mark was the last person she'd expected to meet in the doctor's lounge that day. After all, he lived almost 100 miles away.

"Mark!" Susan exclaimed. She put her Evian on the sideboard and walked towards Mark to hug him. As she brought her arms around him, she felt her bad conscience kicking in again. Her heartbeat went faster and shivers ran down her spine. She didn't know whether she was happy to see him or not, since she hadn't made up her mind yet about how she was going to tell him. Susan had hoped not to meet Mark before next week, but now he was standing there, right in front of her, and she was completely unprepared. "How come you're here? I thought you had to look after Rachel while Jen is in New York?" she asked stiffly.

"Rachel is staying with her best friend. Sorry that I couldn't be here in time for your birthday party, but I decided to come and surprise you today."

"Oh wow...thanks," she said weakly. Susan could barely look at him and avoided eye contact as far as possible. She had no idea what to say. Mark had driven all the way down to Chicago to see her because he couldn't make it to the birthday party. She couldn't possibly tell him that she had slept with Doug. Not here. Not yet. Not now. Still, she knew that she would have to tell him sooner or later.

Mark looked at Susan. He noticed that Susan behaved quite strange today, not like herself at all. She didn't really look at him, and when she had hugged him, it felt really awkward. Mark tried to think of any reasons for Susan's weird behavior.

Was she disappointed that he couldn't attend her birthday party? Was she mad at him? Just when he was about to ask her, the door opened and Wendy came in. She was pretty surprised to see Mark there, just like Susan had been earlier. "Dr. Greene!" she exclaimed and walked over to them. "How are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm fine, thanks. Nice to see you again, Wendy," Mark replied and smiled at the dark-haired nurse.

"Dr Lewis.... the 3-inch laceration, " Wendy began, looking at the suture kit she'd brought along.

"...a wrist fracture and a dog bite. I know, Wendy." Susan finished the sentence. Then she turned to Mark. "Mark, my shift is over in an hour...."

"No problem, I'll wait here."

"Thanks." Susan took the suture kit with her and hurried to curtain one while Wendy and Mark chatted some more.

* * *

**...TBC...**

I finally brought Mark in....you've all been waiting for that, haven't you? ;)

Chapter 7 (Confessions Pt. I) is already in progress. It'll be up soon. Thank so much for your reviews, especially britgirl2003, George-Julianna-fan1 , PinkSparkle02 & savedbygrace. Please keep on reading and reviewing :), I really appreciate feedback.


	7. CONFESSIONS PART I

**THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN**

**Disclaimer : **I don't own any of the characters. If I did, I'd probably be lying comfortably in a deckchair in the sun, overlooking the pool of my Beverly Hills mansion. I'd be sipping on my Strawberry Margarita, and of course, I'd be writing an episode that brings Doug back to the show!

**What happened so far :** Susan left from her own birthday party. Doug found her crying on the roof and wanted to take her home. She asks him in, they get drunk and end up sleeping together. When waking up together, they realize what they've done to Mark and Carol. They were both late for work, and Randi and Jerry already suspect something. Susan and Doug talked about their ‚mistake' and agree on telling Carol and Mark about it. Mark shows up at County for a surprise visit and immediately sees that something's wrong with Susan because she's acting really strange when she's around him.

* * *

**CONFESSIONS PT. I**

After Susan was done with the suturing, had taken care of the dog bite, and sent the little girl with the complicated wrist fracture to an orthopedist , her shift was finally over. This was one of the very few days on which Susan would have preferred to work for some more hours. But it was time to face the consequences and tell Mark about it. Susan walked over to admittance to sign herself out. "I'm done for today. I'm taking off," she said to Jerry while she put some charts into a folder. Then she turned to Jerry again. "Um...Jerry...is Doug still there?" She wanted to let him know that Mark was in town.

Jerry raised his eyebrows. He was probably thinking of the conversation he'd had with Randi this morning when Doug and Susan both got in late. "Dr. Ross? Yeah. He's got a GSW in trauma 2," he replied. "Why?"

"Uh... never mind. Thanks, Jer." Susan smiled at the brown-haired admitting clerk and went back to the doctor's lounge. Mark was still there, sitting on the couch, drinking a coffee with Lydia.

"I'm done for today," Susan said and got out of her lab coat and put it on a coat hanger.

Lydia sighed. "Lucky you. I'm on a double shift today. I'd better go back to work now. See you tomorrow, Dr. Lewis. Bye, Dr. Greene."

As soon as Lydia had left the room and Susan was alone with Mark, the whole awkwardness came back. And even if Susan hadn't said a word about Doug yet, and Mark couldn't possibly know anything about it, there was a strange tension between the two of them – something they have never experienced before.

"Want some Coffee, Susan?"

"No. Thanks."

Mark leaned back on the couch and watched her putting some things into her locker. "Susan...what's wrong? You don't behave like yourself today," Mark said, sounding concerned.

Susan turned around and for the first time today, she really looked at him. She grabbed her jacket and closed her locker. "Can we...can we go for a walk?"

"Sure." Mark took one last sip from his coffee and got up from the couch. He put his coffee mug into the sink and followed Susan outside. It was a fairly cold afternoon and not too many people were on the road. Mark and Susan slowly walked out of the ambulance bay, side by side, but without saying a word to each other.

"Are you mad at me because I couldn't make it to your party?" Mark asked her after a while when the silence between the two of them became unbearable.

Susan shook her head. The fact that Mark tried to blame himself made her feel even more guilty.

"No... I'm not mad at you. It's not you... it's me... I'm mad at myself.... Mark...I think there's something I have to tell you..."

Mark was pretty confused. He had no idea what Susan was talking about. "Susan, we've been best friends for such a long time... You can tell me anything..." Mark reached out for Susan's hand and gently pressed her, which made Susan feel even more miserable. "Susan....Whatever it is...TELL ME," Mark urged.

Susan wished she wouldn't have to reply. But she had to. Lying would make this only worse. "Actually I didn't mind that you weren't here in time for my party... I haven't even been to the party myself....well...except for a few minutes...."

Mark still looked puzzled. "Why? What happened?"

"I left...because...I don't know...I wanted to be on my own, so I went up to the roof... That's where Doug found me... Eventually we left together... we had a couple of drinks at my house....we got drunk...we got really drunk...and well...we.."

Mark's eyes widened. She couldn't.... She wouldn't.... "Oh my gosh... Please tell me you didn't...."

Susan put her head down and nodded. "We did." she said weakly.

Mark let go of Susan's hand. He shook his head and stepped back. He couldn't believe what Susan had just told him. "How...how could you?" Mark gazed at her in bewilderment. You could clearly see that he was aggravated and angry, even though he tried to stay calm.

"We were drunk....it was a stupid mistake...I wish I could make it undone..."

"How could do this to Carol?! She's your best friend! And you know all about Doug and Carol!"Mark shouted, finally showing his real emotions.

Susan glanced at Mark. She had known him for so many years, but she had never seen him being as angry with her before. But Mark was not only angry. His face and his body language expressed so much more. Rage. Disappointment. Resentment. After all, for so many years, there has been something like an unwritten rule between the four of them, that Doug would never make a move on Susan, for everything that had been and could be between Doug and Carol, and Mark - apart from the fact that he was married – would never make a move on Carol.

"I'm sorry....I never meant to do this....it just happened....it didn't mean anything to us... it was just something incredibly stupid..."

"Stupid? Indeed. How could you do this to your best friend...?" he shouted again, then paused for a moment and corrected himself. "...Friends" Obviously, he wasn't only disappointed because of what they had done to Carol....he was also a little jealous. Susan had always been his best friend. She had always been a special person for him and he couldn't believe that she had slept with his other best friend.

Susan had tears in her eyes. She regretted that night with Doug more than anything. "Mark, I'm sorry....I'm so sorry."Susan grabbed Mark's arm.

He pushed her hand away. Tears were now rolling down Susan's cheeks. "Mark..."

"You've crossed the line...." Mark said and walked away.

* * *

**... TBC ...**

Well, this was Confessions pt. I, but I'm already working on Confessions pt. II which is most likely NOT going to be the next chapter...but you'll see. And yes, Carol will appear soon, too. I'll try to update again tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Thank you so much for the lovely reviews britgirl2003, nycdiva2k3 & verity-mac. I'm really happy about reviews and I appreciate any kind of feedback. So please tell me what you think of this chapter. And as for the Dousan thing... I'm still undecided whether this story will actually lead to a Dousan romance or not. Most likely it will... but we'll see :)


	8. ALL SAID AND DONE

**THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters. If I did, I'd probably be lying comfortably in a deckchair in the sun, overlooking the pool of my Beverly Hills mansion. I'd be sipping on my Strawberry Margarita, and of course, I'd be writing an episode that brings Doug back to the show!

**What happend so far:** Susan left from her own birthday party. Doug found her crying on the roof and wanted to take her home. She asks him in, they get drunk and end up sleeping together. When waking up together, they realize what they've done to Mark and Carol. They were both late for work, and Randi and Jerry already suspect something. Susan and Doug talked about their 'mistake' and agree on telling Carol and Mark about it. Mark shows up at County for a surprise visit and immediately sees that something's wrong with Susan because she's acting really strange when she's around him.

* * *

**ALL SAID AND DONE**

"Mark!" Susan called and began walking after him. "Mark!" He didn't turn around and even quickened his pace. Eventually, Susan stopped. She knew that it wouldn't help going after him. He probably would need some time to digest that information. And besides, there was nothing Susan could do. There was nothing she could tell him. Everything was said and done. Susan couldn't blame Mark for his reaction. She probably would have reacted the same way if she was in his place. She wiped away the tears that continued rolling down her cheeks and slowly strolled home. Back in her apartment, she looked around the living room. The pieces of the tequila bottle she'd knocked over this morning were still on the floor, since they had to leave for work in such a rush. The blankets, the pizza box and the glasses...everything was still there, just like she had left it this morning. While cleaning up the mess, she kept asking herself why she had gone so far. Why she had hurt her best friends so bad. She sat down on the grey couch and groaned. Her headache had returned but she couldn't motivate herself to fetch some Aspirin, so she simply leaned back and closed her eyes. Just when she was about to fall asleep, her phone rang.

"Hello?" she mumbled into the receiver, still having her eyes closed.

"Hi Susan, it's me," Carol sang into the phone.

"Hey Carol..."

"I was hoping you'd be home already. Want to come over for a ladies' night? Pizza and cocktails or something? After all, we couldn't really celebrate your birthday together last night."

"I...I just got home." Susan didn't feel like going over to Carol's. Not after that encounter with Mark. And besides, she'd rather spend the rest of her day in bed, nursing her hangover with Aspirin. But then again, the sooner she told Carol, the better. And postponing her confession wouldn't help. She would have to face the consequences sooner or later anyway. "Hmm...Carol, I need to take a shower first, but I'll be over in an hour."

"Great! See you then!"Carol said happily.

"See you later." With a very guilty conscience, Susan put the phone down. _This is going to be hard...._ she thought as she got up. In the bathroom, she stripped off her clothes. Was she just imagining it, or could she really still smell his aftershave on her skin? She got under the shower as quickly as possible and lathered her body with lots of shower gel. Susan closed her eyes and tilted her face to the spray of the warm water. It pelted her body, washing away all the foam. However, she couldn't wash away the guilt. "How could I do this to Carol? How could I do this to Mark? " she repeated in her head over and over again, but this questions went unanswered. Some time later she got out of the shower and slipped into a V-neck pullover and a pair of jeans. Once she was dressed, she walked over to Carol's.

Meanwhile, a car pulled up in front of the building Doug lived in. Mark got out of it and slammed the door behind him. He knocked heavily on Doug's door.

"Mark!" Doug exclaimed when she saw his best friend in his doorway. He was both, shocked and surprised to see Mark. Hadn't Susan told him that Mark wouldn't come down to Chicago this week? It didn't take him longer than a second to figure out that Susan had told him, when he saw the expression on Mark's face. Before Doug could say anything, Mark pushed him away and entered the appartment. "How could you do this?" Mark shouted.

"Mark, I know this should never have happened, but were drunk, " Doug admitted. He had never seen Mark so furious before, so he tried to stay as calm as possible since he didn't want to aggravate Mark any further.

"You were drunk? As if that would change anything!"

"It does. I would never have slept with Susan if it weren't for the alcohol."

"Only because she would never let this happen!" "But you for your part...let's see... she's female. She's single. She's beautiful. That's usually all it takes for you...You would have done it if you had the chance. "

Doug was having a hard time keeping himself under control. Mark's reproaches had really aggravated him. He just bit his lip and said nothing at all, because he knew once he would start defending himself, he would loose his temper.

"Susan would never have done this.... How could you get her that drunk? And why Susan? She was way out of reach for you! Did you ran out of nurses to screw?" Mark shouted, raising his voice again.

That was enough for Doug. Something finally snapped in him. "First of all, I didn't get her drunk! She can make her own choices! We know that it was a mistake! But we can't turn back time anymore!"

"No you can't," Mark said quietly, kicking against some basketball which was lying on the floor. "Doug you could have any woman....Why Susan? Why my best friend? Why Carol's best friend? How could you do this to Carol....?" And under his breath, he added "and to me?"

"Really, Mark, I didn't mean to hurt you, Carol or anyone." "I know she's your secret crush....I know I shouldn't have done this...but it just happend."

"First of all, she's NOT my secret crush!" Mark shouted. "And yes, you shouldn't have done this."

Doug looked at Mark. "It didn't mean anything to me "

"Right. I forgot. Nobody means anything to you. You shouldn't have tried that with Susan." He was still pretty annoyed, but he eventually calmed down a little. "Is there anything else you have to say, Doug?" 

Doug didn't reply. He had apologized, there was nothing else he could do.

"I thought we were best friends," Mark said, now in a calm tone. Before Doug had the chance to say anything, Mark turned around, walked out and slammed the door behind himself.

* * *

**... TBC ...**

Thanks for reviewing it, Cat. New chapter's coming tomorrow. Please R&R, I appreciate that more than you know :)


	9. CONFESSIONS PART II

**THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters. If I did, I'd probably be lying comfortably in a deckchair in the sun, overlooking the pool of my Beverly Hills mansion. I'd be sipping on my Strawberry Margarita, and of course, I'd be writing an episode that brings Doug back to the show!

**What happened so far: ** Susan left from her own birthday party. Doug found her crying on the roof and wanted to take her home. She asks him in, they get drunk and end up sleeping together. When waking up together, they realize what they've done to Mark and Carol. They were both late for work, and Randi and Jerry already suspect something. Susan and Doug talked about their ‚mistake' and agree on telling Carol and Mark about it. Mark shows up at County for a surprise visit and immediately sees that something's wrong with Susan because she's acting really strange when she's around him. Susan tells Mark about it, and he gets really upset. While Mark argues with Doug about the whole topic, Susan makes plans with Carol for the evening, because she wants to tell her about it, too.

**A/N :** Thanks for the reviews, savedbygrace, Carbyangel, Calcumalator, PinkSparkle02, gezzy and also Cat, for her very special reviews.

I think I've already mentioned this in the intro, but once again: Carol is single in my story. She hasn't been in serious relationship again ever since she and Tag broke up.

* * *

**CONFESSIONS PT. II**

With her heart pounding really fast, Susan stood on Carol's front porch. She already knew that this would be even harder than telling Mark. She took a deep breath and finally rang the door bell. She heard footsteps coming closer, then the door opened.

"Hi Susan! I'm glad you could make it," Carol said and hugged her best friend. _You wouldn't be glad anymore if you knew about Doug and me..._ Susan followed Carol inside and the two women settled in the living room.

"You ok?" Carol asked, when she noticed how tired and beaten Susan looked today.

"Ah not really. I've got a terrible hangover." Susan replied. _And I've slept with your ex,_ she added in her head. But she couldn't start off with this right now. "How was your day?"

"Ok. I had to do two hours overtime last night, so spend most of my day in bed." Carol smiled. "Your party must have been great last night." "I wish I could have stayed longer, but I really had to catch some sleep. And besides, I was not too keen on seeing him flirting with all those twenty-somethings, if you know what I mean?"

"You're talking about Doug?" Susan asked carefully.

Carol nodded shyly. Susan shivered. Somehow she knew that Carol secretly wanted him back, but up to now, Carol had never talked openly about this. Apparently, the whole situation was even more complicated than Susan had imagined it to be. She glanced around the room, trying to find the right words to tell Carol about the whole thing. Suddenly she noticed some framed pictures standing on the little table by the couch. Pictures of Carol's family, the ER gang...and a picture of Doug and Carol. _Oh my gosh_... Susan was almost positive that she hadn't seen this picture the last time she was over at Carol's. Susan felt worse and more guilty with every second that passed. She just wished that Carol would already know about it. But Carol didn't have a clue about it. In her imagination, Doug was trying to hit it off with one of the med students or something, but it would never occur to her that he only person Doug had slept with that night was nobody else than her best friend Susan.

"Anyway, I'm hungry....What kind of Pizza do you want?" Carol handed Susan a menu from her favorite pizza delivery service.

Susan put the menu down. She a had tried to wait for the right moment to tell Carol, but she soon realized that the right moment to spell out to her best friend that she'd slept with her ex simply didn't exist. It was now or never. "I don't want any, thanks. Actually I just came over because....because there's something I have to tell you..."

Carol looked up. "What? Okay, just go ahead," she said interested. Susan nodded and sighed.

"Well, first of all... you know that you're my best friend...and I would never hurt you intentionally... but sometimes, really stupid things happen...especially when you're drunk... And I was very drunk last night..."

"Susan....what happened?" Carol asked, now sounding pretty worried.

"You don't want to know..." "I'm so sorry Carol...."

"Susan, what did you do? Tell me!"

Susan's heart beat really fast. Carol would hate her for what she'd done. Nothing would be the same anymore once she'd made her confession. As much as Susan hated to tell Carol about it, she knew that there was no other option. She couldn't turn back time, so she would have to face the consequences. "Last night....we got drunk.... we...that would be Doug and me..." She took at deep breath. "I slept with him..."

Carol's eyes widened. She stared at the woman who was supposed to be her best friend. She remained silent for a couple of minutes, dealing with the information she was just given. _I slept with him_ – only four words...but four words that made a difference. Four words that would change everything forever.

"You didn't...oh please tell me you didn't," Carol said after some time with a very shaky voice. Apparently, she was really shocked and still couldn't believe what Susan had told her some minutes ago.

Susan looked down at her hands. "It just happened, Carol. I can't explain it... It didn't mean anything..."

"It didn't mean anything?" Carol asked, incensed. "I hope you know what this means to _me_!" She got up, ran to her bathroom and closed the door behind herself. Susan jumped up and followed her. She knocked on the bathroom door.

"Please, Carol, let me in..." Carol didn't reply, so Susan slowly opened the door. Carol was sitting on the floor, with her back leaning against the bathtub and her head in her hands. Susan sat down next to her. "Carol, I'm sorry..."

"Why Doug out of all the people? He's my ex... and you are... no...you were my best friend...At least I thought so..." "Susan you knew how much he means to me... Do you have any idea how much it hurts to see him dating a different woman every other week? Do you know what it feels like to know that the person you....the person you....love... is going out with like all of your colleagues...and to make it even worse...has an affair with your best friend?"

"We're not talking about an affair...it was just one time...Nothing but a stupid mistake..."

"As if that would make any difference," Carol mumbled and looked at Susan. You couldn't tell whether she was jealous or more annoyed and disappointed. Carol most likely didn't even know herself.

"I'm so sorry... I never meant to do this to you... I was so drunk that I didn't know quite what I was doing..." Susan reached out for Carol's hand, but Carol pushed her away at once.

"Susan, Doug is not my boyfriend anymore.... He can do whatever the hell he wants... He can screw anyone he likes, and I will pretend that I don't give a damn, because there's nothing I can do about it anyway." "But you! You know all about us... You know how much he means to me." 

"You're right...I knew that....but we all do stupid things when we're drunk...and sleeping with Doug was the biggest mistake I could make... And if I could, I would make it undone... Carol, you're my best friend, and I never meant to hurt you....it just happened," Susan said quietly with her eyes cast down.

"You'd better go now," Carol said sternly.

"Carol, " Susan began, but Carol cut her off. "You heard me."

"I'm sorry," Susan said one last time and slowly got up and walked out of the door. She turned around once more and glanced at Carol. "I really didn't want to hurt you," she said before closing the door behind herself.

* * *

**.... TBC....**

I know you all want me to turn this into a Marsan... but I can't. Sorry. I wrote a Marsan once (So right so real so perfect, it's somewhere on , too), but I didn't really like what I was writing because I wasn't really convinced by it. And even though everybody thinks I'm crazy because of whole Dousan idea, I really enjoy writing this story. And as far as I know, it's the only Doug/Susan story on here, whereas there are hundreds of Marsan stories out there and I really enjoy the uniqueness of my story. Anyway, I finally decided where I'm going with this story...some more twists, and things will really never be the same again...  
Keep on reading to find out :D


	10. FOUR CORNERS

** THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters. If I did, I'd probably be lying comfortably in a deckchair in the sun, overlooking the pool of my Beverly Hills mansion. I'd be sipping on my Strawberry Margarita, and of course, I'd be writing an episode that brings Doug back to the show!

**What happened so far:** Susan left from her own birthday party. Doug found her crying on the roof and wanted to take her home. She asks him in, they get drunk and end up sleeping together. When waking up together, they realize what they've done to Mark and Carol. They were both late for work, and Randi and Jerry already suspect something. Susan and Doug talked about their ‚mistake' and agree on telling Carol and Mark about it. Mark shows up at County for a surprise visit and immediately sees that something's wrong with Susan because she's acting really strange when she's around him. Susan tells Mark about it, and he gets really upset. While Mark argues with Doug about the whole topic, Susan makes plans with Carol for the evening, because she wants to tell her about it, too. Susan tells Carol about it and Carol, too, is really upset.

**A/N:** Thank you for reviewing, verity-mac, gezzy and ashes420. It's always nice to get such an encouraging feedback. Don't worry guys, I will keep going, I'm having a great time writing this story, and it's always awesome to get such a wonderful feedback for it. Please continue reviewing, I appreciate it more than you know ;) Cat, thank you for your support and all the encouraging words :)

**

* * *

FOUR CORNERS**

Some hours later. The night was dark and cold. Rain was pelting down and a heavy wind pushed the branches of an old oak tree against the windows of a small hotel in Chicago. Mark was lying on his queen-size bed, and listened to the sound of the rain. He was supposed to be with Jennifer, back in Milwaukee, but after the events of today, he was still so distraught that he decided to stay in Chicago spend the night at a hotel instead of driving back home. He had rung Jen and told her that he was staying at Doug's. For some reason, Mark didn't want his wife to know about the whole incident. She would never understand why he was so upset. He wasn't even sure why he cared about it....After all, he was married and had a child. Of course he and Jen had their ups and downs, but overall, everything was just fine. Ever since Mark moved up to Milwaukee, his relationship with Jennifer had improved immensely, and they were finally happy together again. Rachel enjoyed living full-time with both of her parents, and Mark didn't regret at all that he had moved to Milwaukee to keep his family together. So why did he care who Susan slept with? Apparently, he had no reason to be jealous...he loved his wife, his marriage was finally back on track and everything was the way it was supposed be. Susan and he had always been really close, but they had never been more than just friends. But still, it really bothered him that she had slept with Doug. Mark couldn't say whether he was just jealous because Doug was now somehow between him and Susan, or if he was jealous in general. He probably wouldn't care if it had been somebody else instead of Doug. He couldn't understand how Susan could let this happen. After all, Susan had always been the relationship-kind of woman. Sleeping with guys who didn't mean anything to her was so unlikely of her. Or maybe Susan had just lied when she had claimed that Doug didn't mean anything to her? He didn't think that Susan was anything else but a one-night-stand to Doug. He had known Doug for many years and he could neither understand nor approve of Doug's attitude towards his girlfriends, or better say the women he slept with. They had their arguments about this topic back in the days when Doug was still with Carol. Mark had been very mad at him for cheating on Carol. But now that Susan was involved, he was even angrier at his best friend. He sighed. Tomorrow morning, he would drive home to Jennifer and Rachel and try to forget about the whole incident for a while. Mark despised fighting, especially when he argued with his best friends, but this time, he wouldn't be the one to make the first step. He sank into his pillow and inhaled the flowery smell of the detergent. He rolled over and glanced at his watch. 1:30am. He'd better get some rest now. After all, he was supposed to work tomorrow night.

_I thought that we would just be friends._

_Things will never be the same again._

_It's just the beginning it's not the end._

_Things will never be the same again._

In another part of Chicago, Doug was sitting in the living room, with a bottle of Heineken in his hand. Music was blasting loudly out of his stereo. He had turned the volume up, even though it was almost 2am. His neighbors would probably ring again soon to complain about the loud music, just like they had done twice before this evening, but Doug couldn't care less. He stared at his answering machine, every now and then, he'd turn the volume down and hit the play button. He listened to the message Carol had left for him while he'd been taking a shower.Eventually, Doug deleted Carol's message. He had listened to it over and over again for the past few hours that he almost knew it by heart. In a way, he had known that Carol wanted him back, but then again, he always pretended that he wouldn't know....maybe because he didn't know how to deal with it....maybe because he didn't want to believe it... There was a time when he had tried really hard to win her back, but it had never worked out. It was probably better this way. If there had been a chance of rebuilding their relationship, it was definitely blown the moment he slept with Susan. Apart from this, Doug didn't really see another chance for himself and Carol. They had too much history, and he just knew knew that it would never work out again. Time goes by and people move on. They could never return to what they were a long time ago. He dug out a picture of Carol and looked at it. She was beautiful, and she was probably the only woman he had ever really loved. But that time was long gone, and maybe it was right this way. Although Carol had still a place in his heart, Doug didn't want her back anymore. He was really sorry for all those things he had done to her, because he never meant to hurt her. He was a lightheaded person with an easy-going lifestyle who made a lot of mistakes when it comes to relationships, but he didn't hurt anyone intentionally, especially not Carol. When he had heard Carol's message on his answering machine for the first time, he realized how much damage was done. He had known all along that Carol and he could not be reunited, but during the past couple of months, they had done a great job on becoming really good friends. Sleeping with Susan had probably destroyed it all. It would also put his friendship with Susan to the test, considering that Susan was definitely none of these women he'd never call back. She was something different...she was a real friend... and Doug liked her too much to treat her like all the others...She wasn't the kind of women he could simply avoid once it was the next morning. Susan was a good friend, and he didn't want to loose her.

_It's not a secret anymore._

_Now we've opened up the door._

_Starting tonight and from now on._

_We'll never, never be the same again._

_Never be the same again._

Carol was lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling. The digital clock on her bedside table said 2:15am. Although Carol had gone to bed hours before, she'd been lying awake all the time. Right after Susan left, she had called Doug and shouted at him, or better say at his answering-machine. She thought she would feel better afterwards, but it hadn't helped a bit. She was still angry. Disappointed. Jealous. There were way too many things on her mind. No matter how often she told herself that Doug was indeed single, and could sleep with whoever the hell he wanted, even if that would include Susan, it still hurt her. More than she ever imagined it would. Only a about a week ago, she had realized how much she still loved him, and that she wanted him back. She cursed herself for feeling this way, after all that had happened between the two of them, but there was nothing she could do against it. She knew that she couldn't get back together with him. There were so many things that were between them and kept them from reuniting. But even if she and Doug could never go back to where they were a long time ago, she thought he would at least respect her enough not to hit it off with her best friend. Doug could have any woman he wanted, and Carol couldn't think of a reason why he'd chosen Susan out of all the people. She had never imagined that her closets friends would ever do this to her. She wasn't really sure about Doug, since words ‚loyalty' or ‚fidelity' probably didn't exist in his vocabulary, but she had never expected Susan to betray her like this. She had been best friends with Susan since ages. Susan knew her better than most other people did, and Carol had always trusted her. Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw Doug and Susan together. The thought of him touching Susan, looking at her the way he had always looked at her back in the days when they were still dating, almost made her sick. Her heart ached, and Carol would have sworn she was going to have a heart-attack or something like that, if she wouldn't know that the pain in her chest was nothing but a psychical one, caused by Doug Ross and Susan Lewis.

_I thought that we would just be friends._

_Things will never be the same again._

_It's just the beginning it's not the end._

_Things will never be the same again._

Susan was sitting on her window sill, clutching a huge pillow. For the past 2 hours, she'd been sitting there, looking out of the window, watching the rain pouring down. For the whole time, she'd been holding the phone in her hand. She had dialed Carol's number several times, but she always hung up before Carol had a chance to answer the phone. Susan didn't know what she could tell her anyway. She knew she had crossed the line. She had done something a good best friend would never do, no matter how much alcohol was involved. Ever since saw that picture of Doug and Carol on Carol's sideboard, she felt even more miserable. She had done a good job hurting two of the most important people in her life today. Susan hadn't intended to hurt anyone. All she wanted was some comfort when she wasn't feeling well. She probably shouldn't have found it in the arms of her best friend's ex. But that night, Doug had been the only person who really cared about her. Out of all the people who were at her party, he was the only one who noticed that she had left. He had been there for her when she needed someone. Doug had made her feel better. He had cheered her up, he had made her laugh, and he had really made her day. They had a great time together but then things had got out of hand. She knew all along that it would be wrong...but in that situation...that night...it felt so right. Susan lay her head down on her big red pillow and sighed. How could something so wrong feel so right?

_It's not a secret anymore._

_Now we've opened up the door._

_Starting tonight and from now on._

_We'll never, never be the same again._

_Never be the same again._

**...TBC...

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**

Ok, so this was the last update for a while, since I'm going on vacation for a week. But yeah, I'll take my notepad and laptop along and once I'm back at home, I'll add new chapters...I guess this looong chapter should give you a basic idea of what's going to happen with Doug and Susan. Yesss, it's going to be Dousan indeed....


	11. MONDAY MORNING

**THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters. If I did, I'd probably be lying comfortably in a deckchair in the sun, overlooking the pool of my Beverly Hills mansion. I'd be sipping on my Strawberry Margarita, and of course, I'd be writing an episode that brings Doug back to the show!

**What happened so far:** Susan left from her own birthday party. Doug found her crying on the roof and wanted to take her home. She asks him in, they get drunk and end up sleeping together. When waking up together, they realize what they've done to Mark and Carol. They were both late for work, and Randi and Jerry already suspect something. Susan and Doug talked about their ‚mistake' and agree on telling Carol and Mark about it. Mark shows up at County for a surprise visit and immediately sees that something's wrong with Susan because she's acting really strange when she's around him. Susan tells Mark about it, and he gets really upset. While Mark argues with Doug about the whole topic, Susan makes plans with Carol for the evening, because she wants to tell her about it, too. Susan tells Carol about it and Carol, too, is really upset.

**A/N: **Thanks for reviewing, saved-by-grace, Grammar, Flick, britgirl2003 & gezzy. I really appreciate that you took the time to drop a few lines for me :)

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**MONDAY MORNING**

That night, Susan fell asleep on her window sill where she'd been sitting all evening. After having hardly slept much longer than 3 hours in a rather uncomfortable sleeping position Susan was woken up by her phone. She must have dropped it while sleeping, because it was lying on the floor besides her. As she got up to pick up the phone, she realized that every inch of her body hurt. Susan yawned and answered the phone, that was still ringing madly. "Hello?" she said, in a voice that really expressed her tiredness.

"Hi Susan, it's me. I just wanted to make sure you won't be late for work again."

Susan laughed when she heard Doug's voice on the other end. She glanced at her watch. If he hadn't called, she would probably have slept in again. Although she could think of a million reasons why she would prefer to stay in bed instead of going to work that day, she was really glad that Doug had called. She had had enough problems with Kerry lately and therefore she couldn't afford to mess with her again.

"Thanks. I really don't need any further trouble with Kerry," Susan said, still being more than surprised that he cared about her. _I wonder why he called.... after all it's not really his business if I'm late for work or not...maybe he feels guilty because he left it to me to tell Mark and Carol?_ "Thanks for caring, Doug. That's really nice of you."

"That's what friends are for," he replied, causing her to smile again. _Friends, _she thought. She was glad that Doug still wanted to be friends with her. She didn't want to loose yet another friend, now that she'd apparently lost Carol. And Mark probably as well. "Anyway...How are you?" Doug asked her.

"Oh, don't ask... I feel asleep on my window sill...What about you?"

"I've been better. Mark came over last night and Carol left a message on my answering machine."

"Ouch...What did they say?" Susan asked curiously. She sat down on her couch, which was far more comfortable than the window sill while she listened to Doug's story. Eventually, she filled him in about how Mark had left her on the street and Carol had more or less thrown out of her house. After they had been talking for some more time, Susan glanced at her watch. She'd better hurry up now.

"Doug, we'd better stop talking now, otherwise, we'll still be late for work after all." Susan chuckled.

"Right. See you at County."

Susan put the phone down. Reluctantly, she got up again, strechted herself and walked into her bathroom. Looking into the mirror, she could barely recognize herself. Her eyes were swollen and she looked really tired. "Shower....Make-up....Caffeine," she said to herself and glanced at her watch. 7.15 am. She had a little over half an hour before she had to leave. She quickly discarded her clothes and got under the shower. Like most other people, she usually fancied hot showers. However, she knew that a cold shower would be necessary to get her going today. She closed her eyes and let the cool water run down her body. She soon relaxed, realizing that this was just what she needed. Afterwards, she wrapped herself into a big white towel. After getting dressed and applying some make-up, another glance in the mirror confirmed that she looked human again. Her body was carving for her daily dose of caffeine, but she was out of filters and therefore couldn't make coffee. And since Starbucks wasn't exactly on her way to work either, she simply grabbed a bottle of diet coke from the fridge, hoping that it would also do the trick, or at least cover up until she would get a hold of a real coffee at work.

The whole El ride, Susan tried to figure out how she would face Carol. But when it was time for her to get out, she still hadn't come up with anything appropriate.

When descending from the El, Susan noticed that Carol was a standing a few meters away of her, queuing to get in. "Carol!" Susan called out. Carol made no sign that she had heard her. Susan wondered if Carol really hadn't noticed her, or if she was ignoring her. "Carol!" Susan tried again, but Carol passed by and got on the train, without bothering to turn around. Susan sighed and climbed down the stairs, making her way to work. She passed through the doors of the ER inhaling the typical hospital smell. Sometimes, she secretly liked this smell, because it somehow made her feel home. But then there were the days where she despised that smell, and it almost made her sick, just like today. On these days, she really wished she would be a dermatologist or something similar instead of working in the ER of County General Hospital.

"Good morning, " Susan called out as she walked over to the admit desk, where Randi, Haleh and Wendy were busily engaged in a conversation. They all looked up an greeted her.

"Something has happened between Doug and Carol," Wendy filled her in. Susan raised her eyebrows.

"Look, she changed shifts with some of the nurses to make sure she never works with Doug until she leaves for vacation, " Haleh said and showed Susan the schedule. _She also never works with me_, Susan thought and bit her lip. Carol was really avoiding her. By now, Susan was 100 sure that Carol had in fact seen her at the train station but had simply ignored her.

"Do you know anything about it?" Wendy asked curiously.

Susan had never been a fan of lying, but she couldn't possibly tell anyone what really happened. "Umm...no," she said and looked down at her hands. Luckily, an arriving ambulance rescued her out of the weird situation.

**...TBC...**

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That was finally chapter 11. 

I getting reviews, and I appreciate any kind of feedback more than you know ;)


	12. COFFEE TALK

**THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters... I wish I did, though.

**A/N:** First of all, sorry for the lack of updates during the past few weeks. I'm a senior in school now - school and work kept me really busy. Apart from that, I had a major writer's block. I hope you're still reading this fic, and I promise that I'll update again soon.

Then I'd like to thank Kara for being such an awesome beta reader.  
Kara- Thank you so much for your help and all those useful suggestions. I really appreciate it!!! hug 

Lots of love going to all my reviewers, britgirl2003, gezzy, PinkSparkle02, Cat & especially girlintheyankeeshat :)

**Last time on THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN :**  
Oh boy, I haven't updated in a looong time... Doug calls Susan in the morning to make sure she arrives at work on time. Carol changed her shifts so that she doesn't have to work with Doug and Susan again. Carol and Susan meet at El station, but Carol ignores Susan....Hmm, I guess that was all.... Let's move on to chapter 12 now....

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**COFFEE TALK**

"Well, if it isn't my favourite pediatrician..." Doug heard a familiar voice say as he stood at admit, flicking through some charts. Looking up, he glanced into the blazing eyes of an elegantly dressed, dark-haired woman. It was none other than his ex, Linda Farrell.

He hadn't heard from Linda in quite a while, and the sight of her caught more than a little off guard. "Linda! I haven't seen you in a while...You look great..."Doug said as he glanced at her. Like most of the women he'd been with, Linda was beautiful. Her chocolate brown eyes and dark, silky hair still managed to get him more than distracted. The tight black pinstripe pants along with her black blazer and high-heeled shoes caused more than one memory to come flooding back to his thoughts, her irresistability coming back to him in waves.

Linda smiled sweetly at him and moved a little closer. She ran her french-manicured hands down his chest. "Well...thank you, but so do you. Have you got any plans for tonight?"

Doug shook his head.

Linda grinned. She leaned over to him, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Well, you and me could have a little fun together, don't you think?"she whispered into his ear. "We could, say, start out with dinner?"she added.

Doug hestitated for some time. He knew he should say no, he knew his sleeping around already been causing enough problems in his life.

"We always had a great time together, " Linda whispered is a tone that beckonned a new wave of memories to emerge. Doug didn't reply.

"Yeah. You're right," he finally managed to say. At first, he was going to turn her down. But then again, he didn't have a reason to say no. After all, he was single. He could do whatever he wanted. His friendship with Carol was already screwed up, and apart from her, nobody else would care about this date anyway.

"I get off at seven tonight," he heard himself lightheartedly say.

"Great. I have a neuro convention to attend, but it should be over by then. I'll meet you here at seven. We can head straight to the restaurant," Linda suggested.

"Alright. We're all set then. See you at seven, Linda. I've got to get back, " he said as he pointed to a pile of charts that was waiting for him on the desk.

"I'm looking forward to it." Linda flicked him another flirty smile as she walked away.

Doug picked up a chart and tried to find his place as Susan walked up.

"Hey," she said and sat down on a chair next to him. Susan looked remarkably haggard. She was wearing a light blue blouse and dark pants which had almost the same color as the circles under her eyes. Even though she looked pale and tired, she was still beautiful.

"Susan." Doug put his pencil down. "You look like you need some coffee."

Susan chuckled and got up from the swivel chair she'd been sitting on. "Understatement of the year. I was about to go over to Magoos." She said almost invitingly.

"I'll come along if you don't mind?" Doug offered, ignoring the fact he already had taken a break some minutes before.

Susan smiled at him. "Not at all," she said lightly, happy to have the company.

"Have you heard about Carol changing her shifts to avoid working with us?" Susan asked after they had taken their seats at Doc Magoo's.

Doug sighed "I wish we could keep this out of the hospital, out of work, but...that isn't going to happen."

Susan nodded understandingly.

"I tried to call her this morning, but she wouldn't talk to me..." Doug continued. He sighed and listlessly flicked through the menu. He had read it a million times before, and probably eaten everything at least once or twice. "It's not like I can't understand her reaction... I can't really blame Carol for being mad at us, but then again, Carol and I broke up a long time ago. Apart from that, we could never be like we once were. And I'm pretty sure she's aware of that."

Before Susan could answer, a blonde waitress approached their table. She was balancing a small tray with two large cups of coffee.

"Thanks." Susan stated as she wrapped her hands around the warm cup.

"You're welcome." The waitress replied with a smile that spoke understanding to Susan.

"Ahhh. Caffeine at least," Susan said, taking a sip of the delicious smelling beverage. Doug smiled at her. After he had paid for their coffee the waitress trailed off. Susan brought back the orginial subject.

"I saw Carol at the El today...but she ignored me... she didn't even acknowledge I was calling her name. I'm going to call her after work, although I don't think that's going to change anything. After all, she more or less kicked me out of her apartment last night, and she has made it pretty obvious that she doesn't want to talk to me again anytime soon."She sighed as she leaned back on her seat, closing her eyes for a few seconds.

Doug put his cup down, and reached out for Susan's hand. "You and Carol have been friends for so long, it's rough right now, but I'm sure you two will work it out," Doug said, gently squeezing her hand. "There's nothing we can do about it anyway except give her some time, " he added.

Susan didn't reply. She just sat there, clutching Doug's hand, knowing that he was right, just like he had been right about Mark.

_"What are we going to do about Mark?"_ Susan had asked Doug on the phone earlier today.

"_Nothing. First of all, he was the one who walked away from us. Besides that, he's married and has no reason to react like this." _Doug had replied.

And Susan knew that he was right. She had felt horrible for Mark, she hated hurting him. But then after Doug saying that...well, she realized she was a little angry at him.

The events of the last two days had brought Susan and Doug closer. She was beginning to realize how much she was leaning on him, confiding in him. He becoming closer by the day. Which she counted as a good thing, since no one else was talking to her.

For as long as she had known Doug, she couldn't really think of a time when she had had a _serious _conversation with him, excluding her birthday. She was quite surprised about that the way they were talking now.

"We'd better get back to work now...Our beloved Chief Resident could be in at any minute...And we don't want to make her angry, do we?" Doug said sarcastically after a little while with a grin.

"Yeah...right..." Susan's face lit up and she let out a small chuckle. Ouf of all the people, Doug was the one who always managed to make people smile. Susan counted that as a blessing at this point.

Susan let go of Doug's hand and stood up. "Thanks for the coffee, " she said with a smile.

"You're welcome," Doug replied as he followed her outside and towards the ER.

**...TBC...**

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He he. I just had to bring Linda Farrell in. She's always been one of my favourite guest stars ;) New chapter is coming as soon as possible :)  
I love reviews, just like everybody else does. So please do me a little favour and tell me what you think about this chapter... I'll appreciate that more than you know :) 


	13. NO STRINGS ATTACHED

**THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters... I wish I did, though.

**A/N:** Here's finally chapter 13. I'm really busy with schoolwork these days, but I'll try to update as soon as possible :)

I 'd like to thank my good friend Helen (girlintheyankeeshat) for being a great beta reader :) I'm really glad that you out of all people are my beta.

Thanks for all your help and all the encouraging words, you really keep me going :)

Thank you for reviewing Hallie , gezzy, Michelle (britgirl2003) , Helen (girlintheyankeeshat) I really appreciate the feedback :)

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**NO STRINGS ATTACHED**

Four hours, two MVAs, one GSW and a couple of minor cases later, Susan found herself sitting in the doctors' lounge, flicking through some charts. She was almost done for the day. She only had a few more charts to sign, before she could take off. She wanted to go home, curl up in her bed and finally catch some sleep. She had been tired all day and couldn't wait for her shift to end.

_Only two more charts._ Susan took a sip from her Diet Coke. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and listened to the sound of the rain that was pouring down outside. A sound that always made her tired. She reached out for the remote control and switched the TV on. She needed a background noise that would keep her from falling asleep. _CNN should do_, she decided, and continued scribbling into her record book.

The door opened and Doug rushed in.

"Spoiled food in a kindergarten....twelve kids with food poisoning...I thought this shift would never end," he said, closing the door behind himself.

"Tell me about it..." "I can't wait to get home," Susan said, smiling weakly. She pointed to the last two charts that were lying next to her.

"I still have to finish these...Morganstern wants them to be done today." She sighed and cursed herself for having procrastinated about her work for such a long time.

"I hope it doesn't take you much longer," Doug said, getting into his coat.

"Maybe another twenty minutes... I hope my TV won't be annoyed if I'm late for our date." Susan said, jokingly.

For some reason, she had developed a habit of making jokes about her situation. The expression on her face, however, showed loud and clear that she wasn't happy at all. Back at home she'd be on her own again. Nobody would be waiting for her to return from work. Nobody would cook her dinner, nobody would argue with her over the remote control.

"What are your plans for tonight?" Susan asked Doug as she watched him closing his locker.

Doug looked at her for a long time before he said anything. Her voice had been full of loneliness and sadness. It was probably not the best idea to tell her about his date with Linda. But he couldn't lie to her either. Not after all they'd been through together. Eventually, he decided to tell her the truth.

"Well.." He began, but the sound of the door opening interrupted him.

Haleh poked her head in. "Dr. Lewis? Mrs. Saunders collapsed!"

Susan jumped up. "Bye Doug, we'll talk tomorrow," she said quickly, before she left the room.

"See you tomorrow." Doug called after her.

He sighed with relief. This way, he didn't have to tell her about his date. At least not today. He glanced at his watch. Seven o' clock. He'd better hurry. Linda could arrive at any minute. He closed his locker and walked over to admittance. Kerry, Randi and Jerry were talking busily, but Linda was not there yet.

He decided to wait outside. "Goodnight everybody, I'm taking off now." Doug said to the three of them and went to leave, but Kerry held him back.

"Jeanie called in sick, Benton is still in surgery, and I have a staff meeting to attend," she informed him.

Doug raised his eyebrows. "So?"

"So, somebody will have to cover for me tonight. How about you?"

Doug caught a glimpse of Linda, who had just come in. Her irresistible dark eyes had always fascinated him. Their eyes met only for about a second, but Doug's priorities were set. He turned back to Kerry.

"I've been working since nine this morning. I can't stay in tonight. I've got a...personal engagement," he said, allowing his eyes to see more of Linda.

"He's going out with that pharmaceutical saleswoman again," Randi whispered to Jerry. Although that piece of information was intended for the other admittance clerk only, Kerry had also heard it.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine." Kerry said icily, and paused. She intended to comment on Doug's date, but then thought better of it and turned away from him.

"Well, I've got to go now. Bye." Doug called out, moving away.

"I'll make Lewis stay then," he heard Kerry saying, as he walked over to greet Linda.

Kerry's last sentence made him feel really bad. Susan was the last person who deserved having to do overtime. She had had a terrible day, she had looked so tired and pale this morning and probably needed to catch some sleep really badly. But his selfishness would now force her to work all night. Had he known that Susan would have to cover for him, he might even have cancelled his date. He thought about going back, but Linda's seductive voice caught him again.

"Come on, Doug, let's go," she said softly, reminding him that one did not say no to women like Linda Farrell.

"Yeah, let's go," Doug answered, with a smile, and followed her outside.

In the meantime, Susan had resuscitated and stabilised her patient again and was back in the doctors' lounge. She had just finished her charts and was now getting ready to leave. She closed her locker and had buttoned up her coat when Kerry entered the room.

"Good thing you're still here, Susan." Kerry spoke up, walking over to Susan.

"I'm about to take off." Susan replied.

"I'm afraid not, you can't leave yet... It's a busy evening. Carter isn't in yet, Benton is in surgery, Jeanie called in sick and I have to attend a staff meeting... You'll have you stay and cover, please." Kerry spoke sternly.

Susan rolled her eyes and glanced at Kerry in disbelief. "Overtime? Again?" She was incensed.

"Kerry, I've been here all day and I'm tired." "I don't want to stay tonight," Susan affirmed. "Can't we call someone else in?"

Kerry shook her head. "No. You're the only one available. Please, Susan," she said, making sure that her voice expressed that there was no arguing about it.

"But what if I already had plans for tonight?"

"Well..._do_ you have plans for tonight?" Kerry asked angrily.

Susan didn't reply. It wasn't fair. Today was the fourth time this week she had to cover for someone. Being single didn't mean she was the one who could always step in and help out.

Kerry interpreted the silence. "I guess this means you're staying." She grabbed her crutch and walked towards the door. In the doorway, she turned around again.

"Thank you, Susan." Kerry said, before closing the door behind herself.

_What a slave-driving bitch_, Susan thought, as she unbuttoned her coat again. It really wasn't fair. Ever since Susie had been taken away from her, she had thrown herself into work. She worked longer, she worked harder, and she stepped in whenever someone else was unavailable. At first, she didn't mind it at all that Kerry made a habit of asking her in to help out. However, lately, it felt as if she was being taken advantage of. She had always stepped in for co-workers, but today, when she was feeling terrible, no one could cover for her. She probably shouldn't have given in, but she was way too tired for any arguments with Kerry.

Every part of her body still hurt from that night on the window sill, and if it weren't for coffee and Coke, she probably wouldn't be able to keep her eyes open anymore. Besides that, she really had to talk to Carol again. The sooner, the better. She had planned on calling Carol tonight, but apparently, Kerry had crossed her plans.

Having stored her coat in her locker again, Susan walked back to admittance.

"Didn't you want to leave half an hour ago?" Chuny asked when Susan sank onto one of the swivel chairs.

"Yeah, but Weaver made me stay for the night," Susan said, with a grimace.

Chuny looked at her sympathetically. "Weaver! She's hardly ever fair."

"Anyway, I've got a woman with pneumonia, a girl with abdominal pain and a man with arrhythmia for you, Dr. Lewis." She handed Susan the charts.

"I'm leaving now, but Carol should be in soon."

Susan's eyes grew wide. "Carol is on tonight?"

"Yeah. She should be in at any minute." "Goodnight," Chuny said, before she trailed off.

"And I thought it couldn't get any worse," Susan said, under her breath, sinking more deeply into the chair.

The restaurant wasn't far away from the hospital, so Doug and Linda decided to walk there. It was a dark and clear night. Thousands of stars were visible and seemed to hang just beyond their reach. Their stroll in the moonlight was almost romantic. Except that there was nothing romantic between the two of them.

In fact, there wasn't much between them at all except for the physical relationship they had.

There had been a time when they were seeing each other a lot; however they had never been serious about each other. It was just a fling, with no strings attached. She was pretty, and he was really infatuated with her sometimes. But still, he had always wanted her body but not her heart. Linda never cared. There was lots of sexual tension between them, but they were both promiscuous people and would never let any feelings get involved.

They would have dinner at their favourite restaurant. Eventually, they would move on to her apartment to satisfy their sexual desires.

The morning after, he would get up and kiss her goodbye. He would leave before she woke up. Linda wouldn't mind. They had both gotten what they wanted, there was no need to have breakfast together. And until next time, they would go their separate ways again.

As they were walking to the restaurant, Linda told him about her last trip to Aruba, but Doug didn't really listen. As much as Doug wanted Linda tonight, he couldn't help thinking about Susan. He felt so bad about having left all the work to her, that he couldn't really enjoy himself.

"You okay?" Linda asked after a while, finally drawing his attention back to her. "You seem to be... so confused" she added.

"I'm fine. It's been a hard day, but I'm fine," Doug assured her.

"Just relax...I'll make you forget about it," Linda said, with a wink, and moved closer to Doug. She undid the buttons of his coat and ran her hands down his chest.

"You're good at that," Doug said, smiling. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer.

Their lips met in a passionate kiss.

"So...would you mind if we skip dinner?" Linda asked, seductively batting her eyelashes.

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...**TBC...**

New chapter is coming as soon as possible :)

I love reviews, just like everybody else does. So please do me a little favour and tell me what you think about this chapter... I'll appreciate that more than you know :)


	14. CONFLICTING EMOTIONS

** THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters... I wish I did, though.

**A/N:** Time for an update....here's chapter 14 at last.

Helen (girlintheyankeeshat) – Thanks for being my beta-reader. I really appreciate your support more than you know ;) And of course, credits for coming up with the title of the chapter & the summary... Thanks a million for all your help :)

Thank sooo much for all the feedback, it's highly appreciated. Thanks a lot, Cat, verity-mac, Flick, Hallie, Michelle (britgirl2003), Anna, Helen (girlintheyankeeshat), and most of all thank you, Kate (peachykeane). Kate, it's really great to meet another Doug/Susan shipper :)

Special thanks also to Kara for listening to all my freaky ideas ;)

**Last time on THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN:**  
Susan has to do overtime and finds out that she has to work with Carol....Doug is going out with Linda Farrell. She asks him if he would mind to skip dinner...

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**CONFLICTING EMOTIONS**

Shortly after Chuny had left, Carol arrived for her shift. "Hey Jerry...Randi," she said, completely ignoring Susan who was standing right next to the admittance clerks. Susan sighed.

"Carol?" But Carol just looked away and pretended to examine the whiteboard.

Susan knew Carol wouldn't be pleased to see her, but she hadn't expected her to make it this obvious.

"Carol, I've got a man with arrhythmia, I could use your help." Susan spoke up, more or less forcing Carol to reply.

"Ask someone else. I'm busy," Carol hissed without looking at Susan. She grabbed a chart and walked away from her. Randi and Jerry looked questiongly at Susan.

"Don't ask," she said, and before Randi and Jerry could ask any further questions, Susan turned to Lily who had just appeared and asked her to help her with the patients.

Outside, underneath a sky full of glaring stars, Doug looked at Linda, who had just asked him if he would mind skipping dinner.

"Not at all," he said, his hands still on her hips.

"I thought so," Linda replied contently. "We could always order some food."

Doug nodded. "My place or yours?"

"Yours. You live closer."

After Susan had treated her patients, and was making her way back to admittance, she spotted Carol in one of the exam rooms. Although Susan could think of more enjoyable things than talking to Carol right now, she knew she had to talk to her.

She took a deep breath and opened the door. "Carol, do you have a minute?" Susan asked, poking her head in.

Carol narrowed her eyes. "No," she replied sternly.

Susan entered the room anyway. "Please, Carol. I really need to talk to you. It's important."

Carol rolled her eyes. "Alright. Go ahead."

"I won't discuss that with you in front of patients." Susan said, looking at the old man Carol was attending to.

"As you might have noticed, he's unconscious, so just go ahead."

Now it was Susan's turn to roll her eyes. "That's not the point."

Carol nodded but didn't reply. Eventually, she followed Susan to the doctors' lounge.

"Carol, I know you're mad at me. I can't really blame you..." "But can we please keep it out of work?" Susan asked, looking down at her hands.

"Well...I didn't _choose_ to work with you tonight."

_Blame Weaver_, Susan thought. At first, she just felt bad about what she'd done to Carol, but Carol's behaviour gradually changed her emotions. She was getting a little bit annoyed with Carol.

"Look, I'm sorry for what happened." "I never meant to hurt you." "I regret what I've done...but I can't make it undone again."

"No, you can't," Carol said, walking towards the door, not wanting to discuss things any further.

"If you decide to ignore me in your private life, that's one thing. But you can't ignore me here. You're a nurse and I'm a doctor. We have to work together."

"You should have thought about that before you screwed him!" "I don't want to work with you anymore," Carol shouted, slamming the door shut.

Susan sat back in her chair, trying hard to fight back the tears that were about to fall from her eyes as she was realizing the damage that was done. Throughout all the years she had known Carol, they had had several arguments. Some of them had been quite serious, and put their friendship to a hard test, but none had been severe enough to tear them apart. Until now. The strong bond between the two women had been disrupted, and Susan knew that the road to rebuilding their friendship would be a long and winding one.

She picked up the the phone. She needed someone to talk to. Instinctively, she dialled Doug's number.

As the answering machine picked up, Susan just wanted to hang up again, but then she thought better of it and decided to leave a message for him.

"Hey....it's me," she said. "It's Susan," she added, considering that he might not even recognize her voice on the account of probably getting a lot of calls from different women.

"Weaver put me down for the night shift...Carol's here... things are not going so great..." she said. The she cut herself off, not wanting to complain about her situation any further. "Maybe you could call me back.." she said, before swiftly hanging up.

In the meantime, Doug and Linda had made it back to Doug's place.

"I'll get the champagne," Doug said, as he was helping Linda out of her coat.

"Sure. But don't make me wait long." Linda flicked him a flirty smile before she disappeared into Doug's bedroom.

"I won't," Doug promised, heading for the kitchen.

He took the champagne out of the fridge and grabbed two glasses. He was about to go back to Linda, he saw the light on his answering machine flashing red. He reached over and pressed the play button.

"_Hey....it's me_," He heard a familiar voice say. Susan, he thought, immediately recognizing her voice. "_It's Susan....Weaver put me down for the nightshift...Carol's here...and things are not going so great... Maybe you could call me back..._"

Doug hit the play button once again. All the guilty feelings came flooding back at once, in an instant. He should never have left her alone. She hadn't really complained, because she wasn't the kind of person who would do that, but from the sound of her voice, he could tell that calling her back probably wasn't enough. He looked at the champagne. Then he looked back at the answering machine. He could have fun with Linda for a couple of hours, or he could go and help Susan...

He knew that Linda was waiting for him. But he also knew that Susan was having a terrible time at work, and would need him so much more than Linda did. Linda was sex. Susan was...well...she was his friend. She had never let him down, and he knew she never would. The events of the past days had brought them so much closer, and the more he thought about it, the more he saw that Susan was his best...and probably only true friend.

"_Maybe you could call me back_.." He listened to Susan's message once more.

"Dougie?" He heard Linda call from the bedroom. He thought for a moment, then put the champagne back into the fridge. "Coming," he called back and went into his bedroom. Linda was sprawled on the bed, the sheets tangled around her legs.

"Where's the champagne? She demanded.

"In the fridge. Listen, Linda... I just got a call from County, I'm afraid. I have to go back there," he affirmed.

Linda sighed. "Can't that wait? She asked, a little disappointed.

"No... I'm sorry."

"I guess that's what you get when you go out with ER doctors," Linda said, frowning. "Will you be back?"

Doug shrugged. "I don't know..."

"Oh well..." Linda buttoned up her blouse again. "I just can't believe you chose work over me."

Doug didn't reply. He would prefer Linda to work at anytime. But this wasn't about work right now. He chose friendship over sex.

"I'm taking a nap now." "I'm not feeling good, so please don't page me unless it's really important," Susan had said to Jerry before she'd left for the on-call room. She had immediately laid down, but despite her tiredness, there was no way she could sleep right now. There were way too many things on her mind, so she was just lying on the bed, with her eyes closed, being trying to get some rest. She hadn't snoozed much longer than half an hour, when the door opened and woke her up again. "I said don't wake me unless it's important." She growled sleepily.

"It's just me," she heard a familar voice say.

_Doug?!_ Susan immediately opened her eyes. He was really there. Standing with a box of pizza right in front of her.

She said up on the bed and rubbed her eyes. "What are you doing here?" She asked, surprised.

"I got your message and I thought you could use some company," he explained and sat down next to her.

"Wow..." was all she could say. "You didn't have to...I mean...you could have just called me back."

"Not a problem. That's what friends are for," Doug said, for the second time that day.

"By the way, I brought you supper." He said, opening the box of pizza.

Susan smiled and brought her arms around him. "Thank you so much," she whispered.

"You're welcome."

She grabbed a slice of pizza and smiled at him.

"Why don't you tell me what happened?" Doug sat down next to her.

Susan told him about the incident with Carol. Doug didn't know what to reply, he just wanted to make her feel better, to let her know that he was there for her.

He just moved a little closer and placed his hand on her shoulder and gently stroked her upper arms. Susan shivered a little as she felt his warm skin on hers. Memories of the night of her birthday flashed through her head. His hand on her shoulder. This was how it all began two nights ago. For one thing, Susan was really glad that Doug was with her again, but another part of her wished that he'd just go away and leave her on her own, because all the mess was partly his fault, too.

**...TBC...**

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New chapter is coming as soon as possible :) 

I love reviews, just like everybody else does. So please do me a little favour and tell me what you think about this chapter... I'll appreciate that more than you know :)


	15. INTERRUPTION

** THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters... But a girl can dream, right?

**A/N:** I know I haven't updated in a long time, but I've been majorly busy with exams. But here's chapter 15 at last.

Helen (girlintheyankeeshat) – Thanks for the beta-reading :) Much love and lots of cream cheese bagels your way for helping me the way you do…

Thank sooo much for all the feedback, it's highly appreciated. Thanks a lot, Michelle (britgirl2003), Kara, (K-Caedmon) Donna (fairydust135674) , Helen (PinkSparkle02), Amy (savedbygrace), Hallie, Anna, Flick, ercarterfan and of course Helen (girlintheyankeeshat).

Kara (K-Caedmon) – Thanks for kicking my lazy ass into gear. Your review really motivated me to update…

_I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my beta. Hel, here's lanky Tag, just for you._

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**INTERRUPTION**

"It's gonna be alright." "Carol won't be mad at you forever," Doug whispered. He gently put his arm around Susan and hugged her tightly. At first, Susan stiffened under his embrace, but he didn't let go. As her scepticism passed and her exhaustion took over, Susan eventually relaxed in his arms. Her head resting on Doug's shoulder, her arm curled around his, Susan allowed her eyelids to drop.  
"Try to catch some sleep," Doug advised her before he closed his eyes as well. For the next few minutes, they remained silent. Susan was tired and totally lost in her thoughts. Leaning on Doug, she let her mind trail off. So maybe he was the one who got her into that mess. But after all, he was also the only one who really seemed to care about her. It felt so comfortable to be with Doug. Susan couldn't say that she didn't enjoy his company.

Opening his eyes again, Doug glanced at Susan's face. She had her eyes shut, her lips were curled up in the semblance of a smile which accentuated her beauty. For the first time in the past few days, she had a relaxed expression on her face again. The sight of Susan looking like this alone was worth dumping Linda for. Doug didn't regret his decision of leaving her at all. Anything he had with Linda had never been more than just superficial physical lust. Things with Susan were totally different. During the past few days, he had developed an emotional connection to Susan. And even if it was only an amicable one, it was something real. Something worth much more than yet another night with Linda.

Suddenly the silence was interrupted by the sound of the door knob turning and a vaguely familiar voice.

"You called for an orthopedic consult, Dr. Lewis?" The very next minute, a grey-haired, lanky-framed doctor entred the room.  
Startled, Susan quickly backed away from Doug and gazed at the figure at the door. It was none other than John Taglieri, Carol's ex fiancé. 

"Oh..Am I interrupting something?" Tag asked gruffly. He leaned heavily against the doorframe.

"No," Doug and Susan answered, almost in unison.

Slightly abashed by the fact that the orthopedic surgeon had found her snuggled against her best friend's ex, Susan felt her cheeks reddening. She couldn't believe that Tag, of all people, had walked in on them. She had him paged about 2 hours ago to check on one of her patients. Tag had still been in surgery at that time and by now, Susan had completely forgotten about him.

"I.. I need you to check on a football player with a torn ACL," Susan said with her eyes cast down. She got up from the bed and walked over to Tag.

"Dr. Ross," Tag said to Doug, a polite but yet firm goodbye.

"Dr. Taglieri."

After Susan had closed the door behind herself and Tag, Doug remained sitting on the bed for a few more minutes. He hated Tag for having walked in on Susan and him. Not only would that make people talk about him and Susan, it had also demolished a very intimate moment. There had been something. Something special. Something real. Something which he had enjoyed every single minute of. Eventually Doug left for the lounge to get himself a Coke.

In the meantime, Susan had taken Tag to her patient. While the orthopedic surgeon was still talking to the football player, Susan made her way back to the on-call room. Getting back there, Susan found Doug gone.

At first she wondered if he had gone home, but then again, she knew he wouldn't leave without saying goodbye.

"Anyone seen Doug?" Susan asked at admittance.

Jerry spoke up. "He isn't on tonight. He left with that pharmaceutical saleswoman hours ago." "Linda Farrell or whatever her name is."

Mixed feelings overcame her as looked at her watch. 01:20 am. Jerry must be wrong. Doug had been right here with her about half an hour ago. "You sure?"

Jerry nodded. "Yeah." "Why?"

Susan brushed aside her concern with a quick wave of the hand. "Doesn't matter," she said as she rushed away from admittance. But it did matter to her. If Doug had really left with Linda earlier that day, he must have come back to her.

Eventually she found Doug with a Coke in the lounge. He was sitting on the sofa, reading yesterday's paper. "Hey."

"Susan." Doug looked up. "How's the football player?" He asked.

"Taglieri is talking to him about conservative treatment."

Susan grabbed a Diet Coke from the refridgerator and plopped onto the sofa next to Doug.

"Do you think he'll tell people we're having an affair or something?" Doug asked, looking at Susan.

Susan shrugged. "Not everybody is like you," she said, with a little grin. "He never seemed to be the rumor-spreading type to me." But Susan didn't want to talk about Tag right now. The only thing she was really interested in was to find out why Doug came back. She couldn't believe that Doug out of all people would dump a beauty like Linda to spend the night in this hellhole of a hospital. Her heart was pounding really fast and she was a little afraid of asking, but she was dying to know. 

"Doug...I need to ask you something," Susan finally began.

"Go ahead."

"Why... why did you come back?" She asked, in a quiet tone of voice.

It didn't take him longer than a second to figure out that Susan had somehow found out about his date with Linda.

"Because I wanted to," Doug claimed.

"But...she's pretty," Susan mumbled, her words scarcely audible. "You shouldn't have..." 

Doug put his Coke down and turned to Susan. "It's okay. I wanted to come." "My friends are more important to me than she is."

He paused. "You are more important."

Not sure what to make out of Doug's statement, Susan just sat there and gazed at him, trying to interpret his words. For as long as she had known Doug, he had hardly ever missed a chance when it comes to women. "I am?" Susan asked, almost shyly.

"Yeah...I.." Doug wasn't able to finish his sentence, since the door flung open and Kerry Weaver entered the room.

Susan let out an inaudible sigh. _How many times are we going to get interrupted today?_, she wondered. When Tag had walked in on them earlier that night, it had only been a little embarrasing. It might activate new rumours, but from the way Carol had treated Susan today, the others could probably tell what happened between Susan and Doug anyway. The situation with Kerry was totally different. She hadn't caught them in an ambigious situation but she had ruined a very special moment of friendship for them.

Susan hated Kerry for barging in. If only she had entered the room a little later. Susan was dying to know what Doug had wanted to say, but now she would never find out. Even if Kerry would spin on her heels and walk back out right away, the situation wouldn't be quite the same anymore.

"Kerry," Susan greeted the red-haired woman.

"Hello." Doug said quietly. _Please, don't ask me why I'm here, please don't, _he thought.

Kerry raised her eyebrows at the sight of Doug. She recalled having seen him leaving with a woman some hours ago. "You're back?" She asked, not really expecting him to answer. "Susan, you can go home now if you want to," Kerry spoke up as she poured some coffee into a green mug.

"Thanks." Susan forced herself to smile.

"But before you go, have a look at this. Friday to Sunday. I want you to go there." Kerry handed her a brochure on a trauma conference in Detroit.

"You're going there too, Doug," Kerry said, handing him a similiar brochure.

"Just fill out the forms and leave them in my inbox. I need them on my desk by tomorrow."

"Kerry, I don't think..." Doug began, but before he could actually finish his sentence, Kerry cut him off. "It's an excellent opportunity for both of you." Her voice expressed loud and clear that there was no discussing over it. With these words, she walked out of the lounge, leaving Doug and Susan on their own.

"Excellent opportunity? More like extra work." Susan rolled her eyes.

"Well...the bad news is, we're going to the most boring symposium of the year," Doug said as he was examining the brochure. "The good news is, the hotel we'll be staying at has got a nice swimming pool" He smirked at her, making her laugh.

"So we're driving to Detroit this weekend?" Susan asked, still grinning.

"Unless you prefer to fly there," Doug said with a wink.

"Like you would get me on a plane that easy." "We're going by car," Susan insisted.

"Fine with me."

Eventually, they both got up from the sofa and grabbed their coats.

"Let's not provoke any more rumors..." "I'll walk out ahead of you." Susan told Doug as she got into her coat.

He nodded understandigly. "Yeah."

Susan zipped up her coat and departed.

Outside the hospital, Susan sat down on the bench near the entrance. There were thousands of stars blazing in a beautiful, crystal clear sky. Susan leaned back and gazed up into the starry night, trying to recall the events of the past few hours. Her fight with Carol. Kerry making her do overtime. Doug. Time had flown so quickly as they had chatted the night away. She was so glad that he had been around... He had been right there when she needed someone to lean on. And still, she couldn't help wondering why Doug come back when he could have been with Linda instead.

One the one hand, she could kill Kerry for having walked in the minute Doug was going to answer her question. But on the other hand, Susan knew that it was probably good that Kerry had interrupted Doug. In that very moment, there had been something between her and Doug, and if only for a second, Susan had felt the undercurrent of something more than friendship. She shouldn't feel that way, of course for it was simply wrong, as he was her best friend's ex. Therefore Susan was actually glad that Kerry had spoiled that moment. Even if unintented, Kerry had happened to help them back on track.

_He's Carol's ex...We're friends. Just friends_, Susan told herself and pushed all other thoughts out of her mind again. She'd better stop thinking of what could have been. He was a good friend. Somebody she could rely on. A true friend. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Need a ride home?" Susan heard Doug's voice from behind.

She turned and glanced at him. Eventually, she shook her head. Susan could think of more enjoyable things than taking the El home in the middle of the night, but considering what had happened the last time he'd taken her home, she opted for declining his offer.

"No, it's ok. But thanks anyway." She got up from the bench and smiled at him. "Thank you for...for everything."

Doug smiled back at her. "Anytime." "Goodnight Susan."

"Night, Doug," she said before heading to the El station. Only a few steps later, she turned around again, as there was one more thing left to say. "Doug!" Susan called after him.

"Yeah?" He spun and walked towards her.

On reaching him, Susan brought her arms around him. "I'm glad we're friends," she whispered.

"Me, too." Doug replied, softly kissing her cheek.

After a few minutes of silence had passed, they disengaged from one another, and walked off in separate directions.

**...TBC...**

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Like it? Hate it? Please tell me :)

I live for feedback, just like every writer does. The holidays are coming up... reviews make great Christmas presents, you know...

Anyway, I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Update's coming ASAP.


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